


Rictus Takes a Trip into a Good Memory

by Pendles_is_friendles



Series: Alls the Thralls [11]
Category: Battleborn (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, M/M, Originally Posted on Tumblr, just hurt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-28
Updated: 2019-08-28
Packaged: 2020-10-01 22:23:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 442
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20424260
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pendles_is_friendles/pseuds/Pendles_is_friendles
Summary: Rictus tells us about the one good thing he's ever done, according to him.





	Rictus Takes a Trip into a Good Memory

“A good thin’ I did?” Rictus clawed at the scar through his lip, a low, thoughtful hum rumbling in his throat. His hooves tapped on the wooden floor, that was covered in rivers of scribbled etchings reminiscent of the dark stripes across his body. Holding up his finger, he smiled. “Back in the service, before all this–” he gestured to the stripes along his neck and chest with a circular motion “– I had a mate of sorts.” A quiet shuffle from his shuddering plates filled the pause left as the remnants of his voice faded in the pause. “He was a star in the dark. Always knew just the right thin’ to say to cheer any of us up when thin’s got down.”

“He and I’d try and sneak off whenever our patrols met. Not always for a quickie in the broom closet, though.” Rictus let out a slight laugh that vibrated. “We usually just talked ‘bout the others. Not much to chat ‘bout in the Reactor, after all. But it was always a good time.” 

He sighed, his smile fading and he lowered his head. “Sadly, no one would stay long there, especially folks like him. ‘T’s the Star-eater gunk in everythin’, we couldn’t get away from it. So, one day when we were havin’ one of our meetin’s, I caught the first signs of the void in his eye.” He pointed to his eye, the pupil set in the milky glow an odd addition for a Thrall. “I knew if he were caught with it, the supervisor would haul him off to cullin’ duty. I didn’t want that happenin’ to him, I… cared for him.”

“I tried to convince him to run or hide or anythin’, but he said that it was just… how thin’s were. He gave up without tryin’. Before he got culled, I shirked my patrol to go see him just one last time. It was hard. He looked like his star had been eaten.”

“It wasn’t fair, but it was inevitable.” Rictus rubbed his nose with the smooth part of the back of his long hand. “I stayed with him his last few hours, tellin’ jokes he’d told me hundreds of times and repeatin’ stories of the times we’d just barely didn’t get caught by the supervisor in the supply closet. We’d almost forgotten about what was comin’, for just a moment. I had to slink away before the masters came to take him away, didn't really get a chance to say goodbye.”

“His name was Arburneck. I’m probably the only person who remembers him and I’d say that that’s the best thin' I ever did."

**Author's Note:**

> This is a part of a collection of fics circling a handful of OCs of mine. Most were previously posted on Tumblr, but are being edited, reworked and reposted here for your reading pleasure. There's a lot more where this came from.


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